1956 Levin Palermo

[CaskAle]

Hi guys

Here is a photo of my recently acquired Levin Palermo mandolin next to my The Loar LM600. I'm living in Sweden for two years doing a masters degree, and really wanted to get myself a Levin as sort of a souvenir before I left. I found this one on a classifieds ad for the equivalent of about £60, I suppose about 100 bucks to you Stateside guys. It had no strings on when I bought it, so it was a little bit of a gamble. The owner said it had high action, but when I strung it up it was only about 3mm at the octave, not bad at all! It sounds great. I think I prefer the sound of an oval to f hole, and I prefer to hear myself play clearly than projecting myself to the back of the room.


114710

[Jim Garber]

I have a similar Levin I think from the early 1950s. I think it is a classical model, maybe model 46 -- I am not home right now. I had to have a crack and a brace fixed. It is decent for a simple mandolin.

[CaskAle]

There is a split in the top of this one too, but you can't see it in the photo. I hope it holds out or isn't too expensive to fix.

I have this strung up in the Get up John tuning which suits it well, and is terrific fun!

[CaskAle]

I really want a levin aristokrat. If I find one for the right price, I'm going to have plunge myself into even more debt!